DARKSEID

I’ve mentioned before how I was never really into DC comics growing up. I watched the Adam West Batman series and the Christopher Reeves Superman movies and the Super Friends cartoon so I had a base knowledge of the DC Universe but knew none of the details. Though I didn’t collect them, I took notice of DC’s 80s toy line The Super Powers Collection. It was a brightly colored well made action figure line filled with simple and appropriate action features. I preferred Marvel’s Secret Wars toys at the time but why did Spider-Man need a big hologram shield? It was dumb and didn’t make sense. Meanwhile in the Super Powers line, Flash runs so when you squeeze his arms together he runs, makes sense. I didn’t like action features built into my toys back then and I still don’t today but these ones were simple and didn’t hinder the playability of the figure so they didn’t bug me so much. One thing I found fascinating about the Super Powers toys was the inclusion of some new characters that I had never heard of before. While the first wave had all the standards that you’d expect, The Justice League, Lex Luthor, yadda yadda yadda the second wave introduced The New Gods. Characters like Mantis, Desaad, Parademon and Darkseid. I had never seen these guys before and thought they were super cool. I knew next to nothing about their creator Jack Kirby at the time. Even though I was a Marvel geek I was still just a kid and didn’t pay much attention to the creators in those days and had not yet come to appreciate the genius of Mr. Kirby. I later gained an appreciation for his work on characters like Galactus and Thor. Darkseid is the evil ruler of the planet Apokolips which is the home to the evil New Gods while their heroic counterparts live on New Genesis. These warring factions were the center piece of Kirby’s 4th World Series. It’s way too much to get into here but go check out wikipedia if you’re interested, or better yet go buy a comic book.

When I started this blog the idea was that I would write about the many toys I have so that buying them would seem to have more of a purpose instead of just hoarding them away on bookshelves in my computer room I would be able to share them with the world. I did not intend to use it as an excuse to buy more toys than ever but that’s what is happening. In my quest to entertain you I’ve been striving to write about more than just the millions of G.I. Joes and Star Wars figures I have and so I’ve been actively searching for oddities. This search has forced me out of my comic shop comfort zone and I’ve been visiting some of the neighboring shops around town. This past weekend me and my buddy Andrew ventured over the bridge to Dartmouth (which is like Apokolpis to Halifax’s New Genesis) to go visit Giant Robot Comics. They have a slew of loose figures on display there but nothing in particular caught my eye. It was only when I asked him what he had out back that he pulled out a box of miscellaneous figures and broken parts. In said box I found 2 Super Powers figures, Darkseid and the Parademon. What a find! When I enquired about the price, he tells me $5 for the two of them. What a deal! This haul nearly doubled my Super Powers collection from 3 to 5. Darkseid is a great looking 80s figure. I have a wicked modern Darkseid figure that’s super detailed and stands 6 inches tall but he lacks the sheer 80s coolness of this little guy. He’s got cool light piping on his head which I think I credited the Star Wars sculptors with creating in an earlier post, oops. Whatever action feature he once had (it says Raging Motion online) appears to no longer work but that’s fine. He’s also missing his cape but other than that he’s in very good condition, his joints are tight and there’s almost no paint wear. The likeness is spot on and really captures Darkseid’s iconic look. I really wish I had more than one of these as a kid, I bet I would’ve had fun. 6 out of 10.